A trainee of Bhubaneswar-based Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre, Ekka clocked 21.87s to finished second, while 100m National Record holder Mallick settled for the third position with a timing of 22.00s.

The other two bronze medals for Odisha were pocketed by Swadhin Kumar Majhi in mens high jump Laxmipriya Kisan in womens 800m run. Both Majhi and Kisan belong to Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC. Majhi finished third with a jump of 2.05m, whkle Kisan clocked 2:17.39 to stand third.

Kerala triple jumper Abdulla Aboobacker and Punjab discus thrower Navjeet Dhillo were crowned as the best male and femal athlete respectively in the IGP-3. Aboobacker qualified for the World Athletics Championships 2022, while Navjeet did so for the Commonwealth Games.

Aboobacker and Karthik Unnikrishnan became only the third and fourth Indian triple jumpers to break the 17m mark when the Kerala athletes took the top two places with 17.19m and 17.10m respectively.

On an evening in which he fouled three of his first four jumps, 26-year-old Aboobacker found the rhythm, the pace and the elevation to be able to improve his personal best by 35cm with his fifth try to win his maiden gold in an AFI competition in the senior ranks.  His Air Force colleague, 28-year-old Karthik Unnikrishnan breached the 17m on his sixth and final try.

IGP-3 was attended by Odisha Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera, Sports Secretary R Vineel Krishna an AFI President Adille Sumariwala. At the closing of the event, Secretary to Chief Minister (5T) V Karthikeyan Pandian felicitated the best athlete of the one-day competition.

RESULTS:

MEN: 200m: 1. Akshay Shetty (Mah, 21.86s), 2. Aryan Ekka (Odi, 21.87s), 3. Amiya Mallick (Odi, 22.00s); 800m: 1. Krishan Kumar (Har, 1:47.92), 2. Ankesh Chaudhary (HP, 1:48.14), 3. Pradeep Senthil Kumar (TN, 1:49.01); 5000m: 1. Abhishek Pal (UP, 14:27.59), 2. Kaertik Kumar (UP, 14:27.73), 3. Gulveer Singh (UP, 14:27.82); 110m Hurdles: 1. Yashwant Kumar Laveti (AP, 14.61s), 2. Prem Kumar (TN, 14.70s), 3. Veeramani P (TN, 14.83s); High Jump: 1. Sarvesh Kushare (Mah, 2.21m), 2. Jesse Sandesh (Kar, 2.18m), 3. Swadhin Kumar Majhi (Odi, 2.05m); Triple Jump: 1. Abdulla Aboobacker (Ker, 17.19m), 2. Karthik U (Ker, 17.10m), 3. Eldhose Paul (Ker, 16.87m); Shot Put: 1. Karanveer Singh (Pun, 19.67m), 2. Inderjeet Singh (Har, 17.99m), 3. Dhanvir Singh (Pun, 17.87m); Pole Vault: 1. Dheenadayalan G (TN, 4.60m), 2. Bineesh Jacob (Ker, 4.40m), 3. Manish Singh (Har, 4.40m).

WOMEN: 200m: 1. Srabani Nanda (Odi, 24.04s), 2. Sonia (Har, 24.82s), 3. Rajashree P. (Ben, 25.00s); 800m: 1. Lili Das (WB, 2:10.72), 2. Snehlata Yadav (UP, 2:17.26), 3. Laxmipriya Kisan (Odi, 2:17.39); 5000m: 1. Sanjivani Jadhav (Mah, 15.56.74), 2. Kavita Yadav (UP, 16.38.05), 3. Arati Patil (Mah, 18:29.26); 100m Hurdles: 1. Kanimozhi C (TN, 14.09s), 2. S. Srireshma (TN, 14.60s), 3. Priya Gupta (Mah, 15.38s); High Jump: 1. Gracena Merly (TN, 1.75m), 2. Rubina Yadav (Har, 1.75m); Triple Jump: 1. Mallala Anusha (AP, 12.90m), 2. Poorva Sawant (Mah, 12.60m), 3. Sharvari Parulekar (Mah, 12.26m); Shot Put: 1. Manpreet Kaur (Har, 16.81m), 2. Abha Khatua (Mah, 16.60m), 3. Kachnar Chaudhary (Raj, 14.99m); Discus Throw: 1. Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (Pun, 58.03m), 2. Seema Punia (UP, 55.97m), 3. Nidhi Rani (Har, 52.63m); Hammer Throw: 1. Sarita Singh (UP, 61.41m), 2. Sneha Jadhav (Mah, 51.46m), 3. Sneha (Har, 36.64m).
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TOP: Odisha Olympian Srabani Nanda celebrates after winning the womens 200m gold medal at the IGP-3 in Bhubaneswar on 21 May 2022.
RIGHT: Young Odisha sprinter Aryan Ekka makes merry afrer winning the mens 200m silver medal at the IGP-3 in Bhubaneswar on 21 May 2022.